I Don’t Mind Things – Truth #3 from A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

In reading A New Earth there were many parts that made me think. Some were incredible truths, some were semantic prattle. My favorite part of the book is of a story Tolle told about the time respected Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti, after over 50 years of teaching and traveling the world, told a crowd of his followers that he would share the secret to his wisdom. This essential bit of truth which will bring clarity and understanding to the followers who have spent their life trying embody his ideology was met with understandable alertness. Krishnamurti gave his crowd a few minutes before letting them in on the secret,

“I don’t mind what happens.”

That bit of truth hit me like blissfully humid Southwest Florida salt air that was holding my hand as I read it. Wonderfully accompanied by the remembrances of This, too, shall pass, the idea of not minding what happens – not being so governed by my ego as to be attached to things which, in the end, are temporary – and  remembering that family and friends are around me, that my health is in tact and that my dreams are still ahead of me are they things that are important. In the end, I should remember to keep my mind on the moment and not its content.

Not to say that one shouldn’t focus on what is important, but with an understanding that if one let’s go the ego-focused things then the priorities focus on their own and life syncs into focus.

Tolle goes on to right that Krishnamurti never elaborated on what he meant when he said, “I don’t my what happens,” which would only make sense. He wasn’t leaving a code so much as a decoder ring.

And what teacher ever explains their profound statements? Where’s the fun in that?

The idea has made helped me to let what’s important take care of itself and my anxiety has seemed to lessen significantly.

Hopefully, in time, I won’t even mind that I had anxiety at one point.

As Easter approaches, I wonder if Jesus didn’t mind what happened. There was always two things he was credited with saying:

My God! My God! Why have you foresaken me?

And

Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.

I wonder if He said them both.

That would be the epitome of aligning one’s life.

And what a lesson that would be.

photo credit: Erik Mallinson via Flickr

Last updated by Finn at August 4, 2020.